Wire fabric blank.



No. 873,195. PATENTED DEC. 10, 1907.

1 W. G. WILLETS.

WIRE FABRIC BLANK.

APPLIUATION FILED M11111. 1904.

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THE NORRIS PETERS cm, WASHINGTON, n. c,

W. 0. WILLETS. WIRE FABRIG BLANK.

APPLIUATION FILED MAR.11.1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

PATENTBD DEG. 10, 1907.

kzls Film nay 1 WILLIAM C. WILLETS, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

WIRE FABRIC BLANK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 10, 1907.

Application filed March 11. 1904:. Serial No. 197.619-

To all whom "it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM C. WILLETS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Minneapolis, county of Hennepin, and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wire-Fabric Blanks,

of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the preparation of wire fabric to adapt it for use in the manufacture of chairs, lounges, carriages for children, go-carts, and many other articles; and the object of the invention is to produce strips orblanks composed of wire fabric reinforced by suitable selvage and transverse brace wires and adapted to be bent to the shapes required to form the desired articles.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 shows a top view of such blank or strip of fabric formed of interlocked coiled wires and marginal and transverse stiffening wires; Fig. 2 is a side or edge view of such blank after its ends have been rolled; Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of the left end portion of Fig. 1; Figs. 4 and 5 are, respectively, enlarged plan and sectional views, the latter on the line z z of Fig. 4, of an end portion of the fabric blank, illustrating the manner of inserting and connecting the selvage and cross wires.

In such drawings 1 designates a wire fabric of ordinary construction composed of spiral coils interwoven and running lengthwise of the strip. In the outer coils 2, which. preferably are larger than those of the fabric body, at both margins are inserted comparatively heavy selvage wires 3 extending the length of the strip; and somewhat lighter but stiff wires 4 are run transversely through the coils at suitable intervals and their ends connected by eyes 5 to the selvage wires. While inserting the selvage and cross-wires the fabric is held taut and it is maintained in that con dition by the selvage and brace wires when they are connected.

The preferred construction is one in which the selvage wires 3 for the opposite edges of the fabric are merely portions of a single wire suitably bent to extend along both sides and both ends of the fabric. The middle or transverse portion 6 of the wire is bent at right angles to its longitudinal portions 3 before the latter are run through the outer coils 2 of the fabric, and afterwards the free end portions 7 are bent inward at the end of the fabric. And it is desirable that the selvage wire ends be welded or otherwise secured together, as

indicated at 8, in order to stiffen the rectangular frame which this wire constitutes and thereby strengthen the wire fabric blank of which it forms a part.

For the purpose of further stiffening the blank, and to cover and inclose the sharp ragged ends of the fabric which are tied to the selvage wire by loops 10 of thin wire, it is desirable to roll or turn to a greater or less extent the ends of the blank, as shown at 9. These rolls also aid in giving ornamental shape to the article formed from the 7 blank. The fabric strip thus formed is then ready to be bent into the required shape to produce the desire article as, for instance, the back and seat, or arms and supports of a chair, a lounge, the body or sides of a babycarriage, and so on.

The construction of blanks or fabric strips set forth is designed primarily for the production of durable and comparatively cheap chairs, carriages, and other articles for children, but, obviously, articles of larger size and for different uses can be made in a similar way. Such reinforced wire fabric blanks or strips can be easily bent by machines of well-known types into a variety of forms and made to serve as durable household and other articles.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is

A reinforced Wire fabric blank adapted to be bent to form the body of a chair, lounge, go-cart, or carriage for childrens use, and consisting of a strip of taut wire fabric formed of interwoven warp coils the courses of which run lengthwise of the strip, a selvage wire extending through the coils at the sides and bent across the ends of the fabric,

tie-wires connecting the ends of the fabric to the selvage wire, and brace wires at intervals connected to the selvage wires and extending transversely through the coils of the fabric body, said blank having its end portions rolled or bent upon themselves, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my WILLIAM ,C. WILLETS.

Witnesses:

P. H. GUNcKEL, H. A. BOWMAN. 

